


Flawless

by goodbyetuesday



Series: Percy and Nico are Super Gay [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson Friendship, Boys In Love, Break Up, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Canon Gay Character, Declarations Of Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Nico di Angelo, Gay Percy Jackson, Getting Together, How Do I Tag, Humor, I Tried, I don't know, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Idiots in Love, Jason Grace is a Good Friend, Love Confessions, M/M, Male Slash, Mutual Pining, Nico di Angelo & Jason Grace Friendship, Nico di Angelo & Piper McClean Friendship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Nico di Angelo, POV Percy Jackson, Past Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Past Relationship(s), Pining Nico di Angelo, Pining Percy Jackson, Post-Break Up, Post-Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Rewrite, Sharing a Bed, i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-05-27 14:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15026867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodbyetuesday/pseuds/goodbyetuesday
Summary: It wasn't even Nico's fault that he had a crush on Percy. Oh no, it was all the stupid son of Poseidon's fault. Percy was the one that introduced Nico to the wonderfully horrible mythical demigod world that he’d been thinking about for most of his life. He was also the one who introduced Nico to the delightfulness of having a gay crush, with his stupid beautiful dark hair and tan skin and dreamy green eyes.





	1. Breaking Up Was Easy

**Author's Note:**

> I'm rewriting a fic I started like four years ago and originally posted on wattpad. The original writing was awful, and the plot wasn't that much better but I'll see what I have to work with. If people like it, I'll post the sequel I'm currently writing too.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Um... Do you, uh... You look like you might want a hug?" It was a statement but Nico phrased it as a question. He cursed himself for not knowing how to comfort people, but at least Percy had flipped over to look at him. Percy stared at him for a moment, and then he was launching himself into Nico's arms, and despite the circumstances, Nico found his heart racing and his whole body tingling, and he smiled hugely.

Nico had never, _ever_ meant for Percy to find out. But, of course, he did, because Nico’s friends were the worst. The way Percy found out was actually kind of ridiculous. And very predictable. Nico felt a bit like he was in one of those stupid teen romance novels, the ones where the girl has a crush and the crush finds out and then they live happily ever after. Not that he would know, it's not like he's ever read one. Or several.

Except Nico was a boy. And so was Percy. Two boys. No girl there.

Being gay wasn't really a big deal. It was the twenty first century, and lots of mortals accepted it. Plus, considering they were both Greek demigods it definitely wasn't the weirdest thing to happen to them. No, the problem in Nico’s teen romance novel was Annabeth. She was tall, tan, blonde, daughter of Athena, female, everything Nico thought Percy could ever want, etc. Basically perfect for Percy. Nico was the complete opposite; male, son of Hades, black hair, pale with bags under his eyes. The comparison wasn’t great, and Nico pretty much gave up hope the minute he realized he thought about Percy in that way.

And then Annabeth and Percy started dating. If Nico had any hope before, it was gone. The two of them were disgustingly sweet with each other and Percy seemed happy - which really got Nico down. How could he possibly hate anyone that made Percy smile like the sun? He couldn’t hate Annabeth, which sucked because he really didn’t like her at all. Not to mention, Nico’s life was in pieces, and seeing them so happy together was the final straw in his downward spiral of self-loathing and despair of which Jason was forced to drag him out. On the bright side, Jason became his best friend.

It wasn't even Nico's fault that he had a crush on Percy. Oh no, it was all the stupid son of Poseidon's fault. Percy was the one that introduced Nico to the wonderfully horrible mythical demigod world that he’d been thinking about for most of his life. He was also the one who unconsciously introduced Nico to the delightfulness of having a gay crush, with his stupid beautiful dark hair and tan skin and dreamy green eyes.

The only person who knew about Nico's humiliating crush (and sexual orientation, though he wasn’t nearly as secretive about that) was Jason. And since Jason couldn't seem to stay out of his business, Nico took free reign to rant to him about Percy. He ranted about Percy a lot. But, again, the son of Poseidon was absolutely, stupidly gorgeous. And Nico was halfway (fully, _completely_ ) in love with the idiotic hero. And eventually Jason accidentally told his girlfriend, Piper. Or maybe Piper just weaseled the information out of him, Nico wasn’t sure. She was ecstatic, being the daughter of Aphrodite. She immediately thought she could set them up, regardless of the fact that Percy was currently dating Nico’s opposite. She excitedly started making plans with Nico to get Percy to notice him. Or, more accurately, she started making plans _for_ Nico, since he tried to be as little involved with any children of Aphrodite as possible.

Nico was pissed at Jason at first, to say the least. When Piper first ran up to him, spouting crap about getting Percy a bouquet or something equally dumb, Nico nearly beheaded Jason. The only reason he didn't was because of Piper's charmspeaking, and even then he’d still been at Jason’s throat. In Piper's excitement, she accidentally told her entire cabin. When one of the Aphrodite kids found Nico and started talking about shipping him and Percy on something called _tumblr_ , Nico nearly took Piper's eye out. He was furious again. That time he only stopped because Jason made his puppy dog eyes at him, and despite the whole thing being his fault, Jason was still Nico’s best friend. So he forgave them, and accepted his fate as the laughingstock of Camp Halfblood.

From there, it spread around the camp, and soon everyone knew but the lovebirds themselves, Percy and Annabeth. There were very few that didn't accept Nico, surprisingly enough, and they came around eventually. Most people didn't care, as expected. He even got an invite from a Percy Jackson fan club, which he immediately denied. Nico just counted the days until Percy or Annabeth found out and came to kill him.

But then Annabeth suddenly and surprisingly broke up with Percy. Nico was happier than ever, and only a little guilty for feeling that way. He started hanging around the camp even more, now that he didn't have to avoid the painfulness of seeing the one you love be with someone else. And he wasn’t as embarrassed for everyone to know he was very much attracted to Percy’s _everything_ when Percy was single.

Nico found Percy in his cabin a week after the breakup, still in bed even though it was well into the afternoon and staring at the wall. He’d been hiding out for most of the week, only leaving his cabin for food or to sneak off to the beach and stare morosely at the water. Nico’s happiness at their breakup was diminished a little when he saw how upset Percy was, but Piper had filled his head with hope when she gave him all these ways to get Percy to look at him now. And that’s sort of why Nico took his chance to comfort Percy, but mostly he saw that Percy needed someone to be there for him. So he sat down to talk to Percy.

"Hey, Percy... I, um... I heard about-" Nico tried to ease into it, but Percy quickly cut him off.

"Yeah." He said sharply. Nico sighed, shifting awkwardly.

"Um... Do you, uh... You look like you might want a hug?" It was a statement but Nico phrased it as a question. He cursed himself for not knowing how to comfort people, but at least Percy had flipped over to look at him. Percy stared at him for a moment, and then he was launching himself into Nico's arms, and despite the circumstances, Nico found his heart racing and his whole body tingling, and he smiled hugely.

"Nico... I don't think... I don't think I love her anymore..." Percy said quietly when they had parted. His eyes met Nico’s for a moment, and Nico felt his heart stutter.

"Y-You don't?" Nico breathed, heart racing with hope. He shut himself down quickly. _No, Nico. That's bad. He just broke up with his girlfriend, for Hades' sake._

"I... um... I'm just kind of confused now... maybe scared. I don't know what to do without her. I don’t know how to be alone, and she… she was my best friend," Percy said.

Nico didn't really know what to say to that, so he just patted Percy's back awkwardly and make a stupid joke. He _really_ didn’t know how to comfort people, and he was way too nervous with the new information that Percy was apparently over Annabeth. Percy gave him a smile though, and they launched into a conversation that made them seem like best friends.

Later, back in his own cabin, Nico realized what a mistake he was making. He was getting even closer with Percy, and although he was single now, Nico still thought a relationship between them, beyond friendship, was impossible. Despite what Piper and Jason said, Nico was nothing Percy could ever want. But maybe he was wrong...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes, not beta read. And again, this is a rewrite of something I wrote a very long time ago.


	2. Can't Help Falling in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, he was the opposite of what Percy found attractive in Annabeth, but in the best possible way. He had soft, dark hair, which Percy knew about from one afternoon that Nico had spent dozing with his head in Percy’s lap. Percy had taken the opportunity to play with Nico’s hair, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was the softest thing he’d ever touched. Nico also had dark eyes to match, which Percy found particularly expressive. He loved to see emotion flicker in his deep brown eyes, which should’ve been Percy’s first clue that he was quickly headed towards being head over heels for the son of Hades. And then, Nico’s pale white skin might’ve been a turn off for anyone else, but Percy thought it was gorgeous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, the way I write this is that I go back and forth between Nico's focus on a chapter and Percy's focus. So chapter 1 was Nico focused, chapter 2 is Percy's, and so on.

Percy had known his relationship with Annabeth wasn’t perfect. He just didn’t think she’d ever break up with him either.

“Sorry... what?” He asked, a little shocked, after she'd made her announcement to him. Luckily they were alone in his cabin, otherwise he'd worry about being embarrassed at the way his jaw was practically hanging open in surprise. 

“I said, I think we should break up,” Annabeth sighed, looking down. “I don’t think this is working.”

Percy frowned, thinking over the past month. “Did I... did I do something wrong?”

“No!” Annabeth said immediately, looking up at him. “Well, not on purpose... Percy, I just don’t think you’re interested in our relationship anymore.” 

“ _What?!_ ” Percy yelped, anger filtering through finally. “Of course I am!”

“Percy,” Annabeth sighed. “Can you honestly tell me you still feel the same way about me as you did when I kissed you on your birthday?” 

Percy blinked. He hadn’t noticed it... but he hadn’t been spending as much time with Annabeth. He hadn’t _wanted_ to spend as much time with Annabeth.  Immediately, guilt filtered through him. 

“I love you,” Percy said anyway, because that was true at least.

Annabeth’s eyes went soft, and Percy’s heart clenched when he noticed she had tears in them. “I know. But you’re not _in love_ with me.”

Percy tried to reach out, to hug her, but she stepped away. “Annabeth, we can... I can work on this. Please, _don’t_ \- don’t leave me.”

He honestly didn’t know if he was in love with her. But he knew he wanted to be. He knew he definitely didn’t want to be alone.

Annabeth shook her head, tears falling. “I’m sorry. I have to. It’s the best for both of us, okay?”

Percy blinked, still shocked this was even happening, as Annabeth left his cabin. It took a few moments before it settled in, that Annabeth had just ended their relationship. He curled back up in bed and just tried to forget.

\- - - - -

Percy latched onto Nico after the breakup. Soon after Percy realized he didn’t want to be alone, Nico was there for him. So Percy took the friendship he offered. The problem was, after Percy realized he wasn’t in love with Annabeth anymore, that left him open to see potential people he could date. And Nico was at the top of that list. Nico was number one. 

The first thing Percy noticed was how attractive Nico was. Admittedly, he was the opposite of what Percy found attractive in Annabeth, but in the best possible way. He had soft, dark hair, which Percy knew about from one afternoon that Nico had spent dozing with his head in Percy’s lap. Percy had taken the opportunity to play with Nico’s hair, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was the softest thing he’d ever touched. Nico also had dark eyes to match, which Percy found particularly expressive. He loved to see emotion flicker in his deep brown eyes, which should’ve been Percy’s first clue that he was quickly headed towards being head over heels for the son of Hades. And then, Nico’s pale white skin might’ve been a turn off for anyone else, but Percy thought it was gorgeous.

Percy got to know Nico. He liked him just fine before, but as they spent more time together, Percy found himself wanting to spend every waking minute with the younger demigod. Nico was intelligent, but not annoyingly so, and kindhearted, and so, _so_ very funny. He teased Percy and was willing to be teased back. He was open to spending the day inside, but also open to spending the day at the beach, or in the woods sword fighting.Percy realized too late that he wanted more than a friendship with Nico. But he wasn’t too worried about it, considering he enjoyed their relationship as it was. It was just a bit difficult sometimes to suppress his urge to kiss Nico, or hold his hand, or pull him close for a hug, or declare his undying love. But he somehow always managed.

“Percyyy,” Nico whined, a teasing grin on his face. Percy pulled himself away from his thoughts, looking down at Nico where he was resting his head in Percy’s lap, much like the first time Percy had played with his hair. 

“Yeah?” Percy murmured, holding himself back from just leaning down and kissing Nico’s forehead. Or lips, that would be better.

“I’ve been calling your name for ten minutes,” Nico complained. “I want another grape.”

Percy stared for a moment as Nico held his mouth open for the grape, imagining if he just leaned down and stuck his tongue in Nico’s mouth instead - _Nope. Grapes. Feed Nico grapes, don’t kiss him._

“I feel like your slave,” Percy grumbled, trying to ignore the flush he felt painting his cheeks. He grabbed a handful of grapes, feeding one to Nico and watching him chew.

“You are my slave,” Nico said cheekily when he was done, holding his mouth open for another. Percy obliged, popping another grape into Nico’s willing mouth. “It’s your fault that my hand hurts anyway.”

Percy winced, Nico was right. They’d been sword fighting in the forest again, practicing for no reason other than for fun. Percy had played a little too hard, and using the butt of his sword, he accidentally bruised Nico’s wrist while trying to disarm him.

“Sorry again,” Percy murmured, feeding Nico another grape. “I really didn’t mean to.”

“At least I didn’t you didn’t cut me,” Nico shrugged, taking the offered grape with a smile.

“You do have two hands, you know,” Percy reminded, smiling softly. He’d continue to feed Nico anyway.

“You hurt my dominant hand,” Nico pouted. “My other hand is useless, Percy.”

Percy chuckled, resisting another urge to kiss the pout off Nico’s face. Everyday he fell a little more in love with Nico, and it got harder to resist him.

“Hey!” Nico said suddenly, sitting up. “Your birthday is next week!”

“Yeah,” Percy agreed slowly, not knowing where Nico was going with that.

“Don’t you have any plans?” Nico asked, brow furrowing cutely.

“Not really,” Percy sighed, not saying that his birthday was also his and Annabeth’s anniversary in the past. “I'll probably just stick around camp. 

Nico frowned, but didn’t push the subject. He also didn’t lay back down in Percy’s lap. Instead, he stretched his arms above his head, and Percy found his gaze drawn to the line of skin that his t-shirt revealed when he did so. 

“I think we should head back for dinner,” Nico drew Percy’s attention back. Percy met his eyes, blushing at being caught staring. Nico didn’t seem to notice though. “As filling as those grapes are, I could use an actual meal. And so could you, you big strong son of Poseidon.”

“Okay,” Percy agreed, pushing himself to a standing position. He held a hand out and helped Nico do the same. Nico gave him a grateful smile, and Percy wanted so badly to take his hand as they walked to the dining pavilion, but he resisted.

Maybe one day, he’d get the courage to just ask Nico out, and he’d be able to kiss and hug him and hold his hand if he wanted to. _Maybe one day_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. still not beta read sorry!


	3. Ask Me, I Won't Say No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Give me my pillow back," Percy grumbled, pouting.
> 
> Gods, Percy was adorable sometimes. It was part of the reason Nico decided to go through with the whole date thing, because he couldn’t take being around Percy anymore when he was randomly adorable. 
> 
> "No. You have to get up." Nico giggled. He actually giggled.
> 
> "Fine," Percy mumbled, pulling the son of Hades into a laying position next to him. "You’ll be my pillow then." Percy rested his head softly on Nico, curling up to him.

Somehow, Nico found himself inside the Aphrodite cabin. He didn’t remember how Piper had convinced him to come here, but he suspected charmspeak was involved. He had asked them what he should do about Percy, and now that they knew, he might as well take advantage of it. But if they mentioned anything involving flowers or a makeover, he was running out of there.

“You should take Percy on a date!” One of the boys, Mitchell, suggested when Nico asked for advice.

“A date?” Nico squeaked nervously, eyes roaming his surroundings. Holy Hades, their cabin was so pink. And it smelled like perfume, and did every child of Aphrodite have to be so attractive? Not that any of them compared to Percy, though.

“Yeah, that’s perfect!” Piper agreed. “Isn’t his birthday coming up? You can take him out to celebrate.”

“I don’t know if he’ll want to,” Nico said uncertainly. “I mean, it’s not like he’s interested in me. And why would he want to spend his birthday with me?”

“Please,” Piper rolled her eyes. “Even if he wasn’t into you, which he totally is, you’re his new best friend!”

_Best friend._ Huh, Nico hadn’t thought about that. He knew that he and Percy had gotten closer over the past few weeks, but he always thought Percy still considered Annabeth to be his best friend. He still hadn’t spoken to her since their breakup, but he spoke about her like they were close. However, he did spend most of his time with Nico now.

“Best friend?” Nico repeated. “You really think so?”

“Yeah!” Another Aphrodite camper agreed. “You’re all he talks about!”

Nico flushed, pleased. “Well, okay. But where do I take him? What’ll we do?”

“Well, you can shadow travel, right?” Piper mused. Nico nodded. “We can definitely use that...”

\- - - - -

After an afternoon of talking to the Aphrodite kids, Nico was ready to pass out and sleep for about seven years. Each of them had their own ideas and opinions, and they liked to argue with each other. It was exhausting for Nico, and he’d only planned the basics of his birthday date with Nico. He still had the specifics to plan out, but first he had to actually ask Percy and make sure he actually wanted to spend the day with Nico. He was fully expecting Percy to say no, but also desperately hoping for a yes. Despite being exhausted, Nico stayed up for an hour that night just worrying about asking his crush out.

Nico didn't think he would run into Annabeth for a while, but he ended up bumping into her the next morning, the day before Percy's birthday. Nico had been heading to Percy's cabin to talk to him, to finally ask him out because of course he’d left it until last minute, and Annabeth had stopped him in front of it.

“Hey, Nico,” she greeted, giving him a small smile.

“Hey,” he said nervously. Was she here to yell at him? Was she going to re-ask Percy out? _Oh gods_ , was he too late?

“I just wanted to wish you luck on your date with Percy tomorrow,” she continued, and Nico’s thought process came to a full stop.

"I-I... What?" Nico stuttered.

"Look, I... I didn't want to hurt Percy or anything. And his birthday is also our anniversary. So I... I want you to make sure he's happy, okay?" Annabeth patted Nico's shoulder.

She was still smiling softly, and Nico wanted to punch her just a little bit. He still remembered how he felt watching her and Percy together, and, more importantly, he remembered how upset Percy had been when they’d first broken up. But she was being nice, so the polite thing to do was to be kind back.

"Well, um... that all depends if he actually wants to go. And if he likes me." Nico sighed, nervously playing with his fingers.

"You haven't asked him?!" Annabeth nearly shrieked. Nico blinked, then shook his head. She shoved him in the direction of the cabin. "Go!"

Nico stumbled inside and glanced at Percy still sleeping on his bed. Nico smiled at how effortlessly adorable the older boy looked. His nervousness dissipated at the familiar sight; Percy slept in about as often as Nico did.

He sat down softly on the bed beside him. "Percy... C'mon Percy... Wake up." He shook his shoulder. Percy’s eyes fluttered, opening just slightly to peek at Nico before wrenching shut again.

"Niiiicoooooooo, it's too early," Percy groaned, shoving his face into his pillow. Nico laughed, and then ripped his pillow out from under him.

"It's time for breakfast, though,” Nico tried, trying not to smile.

"Give me my pillow back," Percy grumbled, pouting.

Gods, Percy was adorable sometimes. It was part of the reason Nico decided to go through with the whole date thing, because he couldn’t take being around Percy anymore when he was randomly adorable.

"No. You have to get up." Nico giggled. He _actually_ giggled.

"Fine," Percy mumbled, pulling the son of Hades into a laying position next to him. "You’ll be my pillow then." Percy rested his head softly on Nico, curling up to him.

Nico felt himself go pink. "U-Uh Percy, don't you want breakfast though?"

"We can get something later." Percy said. "Sleep. I know you're tired too, you've been shadow traveling a lot lately." 

Nico was surprised Percy had noticed. He had been shadow traveling more than usual, but he didn’t think it was that obvious. He’d been visiting Camp Jupiter to see Hazel for advice, preparing for their date, getting stuff from stores, etc., and he was exhausted. He cuddled up to Percy and decided to let himself go with it. But just one thing first.

"How'd you notice?" Nico whispered to Percy.

"Well... You have dark circles under your eyes. And you've yawned at least twice since you've walked in here..." Percy said quietly. He sounded embarrassed. But then even quieter he added, "And you haven't been with me as much..."

It was true, Nico hadn’t spent much time with Percy over the past week, compared to previous weeks. After Percy and Annabeth broke up, Nico made it his mission to keep Percy smiling and hung out with him nearly everyday. That was probably why everyone thought they were best friends now. But this week he'd been so busy planning for Percy’s birthday, and he’d been so nervous about asking him out, that he’d sort of been accidentally avoiding him.

But, now, it sort of gave him the perfect opportunity to ask him...

"Aw Percy, I'm sorry. Look, I'll make it up to you. Let's go to dinner for your birthday." Nico suggested. He hoped he didn’t sound as nervous as felt.

Percy smiled, looking up at Nico. "I'd like that."

\- - - - -

That being the end of their conversation, both boys drifted to sleep. Jason found them still cuddled together in Percy’s bed around noon, a winning smile on his face. Nico warned him with his eyes, don't say anything, nothing, don't you dare. So Jason didn't say anything about the two, only telling them it was time for lunch. Percy stomach growled at the thought and they headed off to eat. Nico sat with Percy at lunch nowadays, both of them being the only ones in their cabins. Jason occasionally joined them, but most meals he spent with Piper. Dionysus only said something about them being at the wrong tables once, but he didn’t seem to actually care so they kept doing it.

"Where were you two this morning?" Clarisse called to them as they sat down, a smirk present on her face.

"U-Uh, this morning? Well..." Nico stuttered nervously. She couldn’t possibly know they were cuddling, could she? Just because they both missed breakfast didn’t necessarily _mean_ anything -

"Sleeping," Percy retorted. Well, _now_ it was obvious.

"Together then?" Clarisse continued to smirk at Nico. Okay, it actually sounded like they had been doing a lot more than cuddling, not that Nico minded. He shifted anxiously, any minute now Percy would realize that Nico was _embarrassingly_ in love with him and then their friendship would be over, right?

"Yeah, got a problem with it?" Percy said, a bit irritated, but thankfully not at Nico.

Clarisse just snickered, turning away. Percy was still tense, so Nico softly touched his arm, and he calmed immediately.

“You good?” Nico asked gently.

“I’m great,” Percy said with a dazzling smile.

Nico’s heart squeezed and he couldn’t help but grin back at Percy. He was so doomed. He was never going to make it through their date the following day without mortifying himself by declaring his love for Percy.But as Percy smiled at Nico like he was the only thing that mattered, he couldn’t help but be pleased that Percy was slowly ruining him.


	4. The World Seemed to Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You - your face,” Percy gasped through laughter. “Nico, it’s...”
> 
> “What’s on my face?” Nico asked, scrambling back. He stumbled over to a mirror and Percy laughed even harder when he heard Nico’s sharp intake of breath. “WHAT THE FUCK?”
> 
> “Language, Nico,” Percy teased, finally coming down from his laughter.
> 
> “Why am I wearing eyeliner?” Nico asked. He tried to wipe it away, but only succeeded in spreading it more. Percy couldn’t help but start laughing again, Nico looked like a raccoon. “Oh, shit!”
> 
> “No cursing in my cabin,” Percy teased again, knowing it would just wind Nico up.
> 
> “Oh, fuck you,” Nico snapped. “How the hell am I going to get this shit off?”

_Percy was walking down a dim hallway. He could barely see as he stumbled along. He wished he had a flashlight or something. He finally reached the end, by stumbling into a door. He didn’t hesitate to reach out and open it._

_Light flooded from the open door as Percy crept inside. It was silent in the wide open room. Percy stepped forward, up to a railing that looked over a pit of fire. Okay, that's a little messed up, maybe he was in the underworld._

_A loud, booming laugh caught Percy’s attention, and he looked up to see a dark indeterminable shadow seated on a chair. Percy squinted to see it better, but it seemed as if it didn’t even have a set shape. Parts of it kept moving, changing, and he couldn’t see what it was._

_“Percy Jackson,” the voice said. “You will watch your friends burn.”_

_A hatch sounded, and Percy looked up at the ceiling to see it had opened and his friends were being lowered by shackles on their wrists. He cried out at the sight, even though none of them were anywhere near the flames yet._

_“Stop!” Percy begged._

_For some reason, the strange being complied with his request. His friends’ descent halted well above the flames, and Percy heaved a sigh of relief._

_“One at a time, then,” the voice said. “You will watch your friends burn.”_

_And he did. One at a time, Percy’s friends were lowered into the flames. They screamed and fought, but so did Percy. He found himself unable to actually move as they burned, and he guessed, whatever the monster was, it had some sort of magic that kept him from leaping from the higher balcony to his own death._

_One by one, Percy was forced to watch his friends die. Clarisse, Grover, Thalia, Tyson, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Reyna, Frank, even Leo. When Percy’s enemy found itself unable to kill Leo through flame, he simply flicked his wrist, and Leo’s neck snapped. Percy was unable to look away, and finally only Annabeth and Nico were left._

_“No!” Percy shouted, unable to help himself, as Annabeth was lowered. She struggled, screaming as the flames licked the bottoms of her feet. “NO! Don’t, not her, please!”_

_But she, too, had burned in front of Percy. He sobbed desperately, only Nico was left and he couldn’t possibly watch Nico die._

_“Not him,” Percy begged. “Please, don’t - don’t kill him.”_

_The shadow figure chuckled darkly, moving one hand. Nico started his descent, lowering even faster than the others had._

_“NO! No, no, no, please!” Percy begged, tears marring his vision. “PLEASE, I need him!”_

_“Percy,” Nico said, just as the flames engulfed him. Percy somehow heard him perfectly across the large room. “Percy!”_

_“Nico, I’m sorry,” Percy apologized. “Gods, I’m so sorry!”_

_“Percy,” Nico said again, eyes locked with his. “Wake up. You have to wake up.”_

 

Percy’s eyes flew open and he sat up with a gasp, nearly head butting Nico, who was at his bedside. He breathed heavily, scanning his surroundings for any sign that he was still in his nightmare.

“Fuck, Percy,” Nico breathed, and Percy’s eyes flew to him. “That’s one way to wake up on your birthday, I guess.”

“Nico!” Percy threw his arms around the smaller boy, unable to stop himself this one time. “Oh, gods, Nico. You’re okay.”

“Yeah,” Nico agreed, arms coming to wrap Percy up in a welcomed hug. “I’m alright. That was some dream, huh?”

“It was horrible,” Percy murmured, ducking his face against Nico’s shoulder. He could feel himself trembling slightly, but he didn’t care enough to be embarrassed. Besides, he was with Nico, and there was nobody he trusted more at that point.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Nico asked gently, running a soothing hand through Percy’s hair.

“It was - it was... something. I don’t know what it was. Some sort of shadow,” Percy breathed unsteadily. “And it - he said ‘You will watch your friends burn, Percy Jackson,’ over and over again. And he made me watch as each of my friends were killed, and then I had to watch you die, and I just...”

Percy cut off with a choked sob, and Nico pulled him impossibly closer. “Hey, it’s okay. Everyone’s okay, as far as I know. It was just a dream, it’s not real, and it’s not going to happen. No way I’m going to die to something as lame as some shadow monster and some fire.”

Percy laughed, pulling back to look at Nico and -

_Holy shit._

Percy gasped, hand flying up to almost touch Nico’s face before he stopped himself. _Fuck,_ Nico looked hot. He was wearing eyeliner. _Why_ was he wearing _eyeliner?_

“Uh, Percy?” Nico asked, looking confused. “Why are you staring at me?”

Percy blinked. Oh, _oh!_ Nico didn’t know he was wearing eyeliner, which meant... which meant Percy should be laughing, not staring at Nico like he wanted to press the son of Hades into the mattress and kiss him as hard as possible. So, Percy laughed, leaning forward to muffle it in Nico’s shoulder so he wouldn’t sound so annoying.

“Really, Percy, what’s going on?” Nico asked. “You went from crying to staring to laughing...”

“You - your face,” Percy gasped through laughter. “Nico, it’s...”

“What’s on my face?” Nico asked, scrambling back. He stumbled over to a mirror and Percy laughed even harder when he heard Nico’s sharp intake of breath. “WHAT THE FUCK?”

“Language, Nico,” Percy teased, finally coming down from his laughter.

“Why am I wearing eyeliner?” Nico asked. He tried to wipe it away, but only succeeded in spreading it more. Percy couldn’t help but start laughing again, Nico looked like a raccoon. “Oh, _shit_!”

“No cursing in my cabin,” Percy teased again, knowing it would just wind Nico up.

“Oh, fuck you,” Nico snapped. “How the hell am I going to get this shit off?”

“Nico!” Percy scolded through giggles. “You need to wash your mouth out with soap.”

Nico turned to Percy, opening his mouth to say something that probably involved more foul language, but a sharp knock at the door interrupted him. Piper poked her head in the room, grinning when she saw Nico.

“Hello, boys,” Piper greeted. “I see you’ve been experimenting with a new look, Nico.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Nico agreed, crossing his arms. “Where’s the makeup remover?”

“You’re no fun,” Piper sighed, holding out a bottle and a washcloth. “Be gentle, try not to get it in your eyes.”

Nico scowled, heading off to remove the black eyeliner that looked more like blown out eyeshadow now. As he left, Piper turned to Percy.

“So, I didn’t actually come here to give Nico makeup remover. I actually hoped he’d come begging me for it,” Piper started. “I came because there was a tip about two American demigods hiding out in Australia.”

“Australia?” Percy asked, eyebrows pulling together. “How...?”

“I don’t know,” Piper sighed. “But the tip was from Tyson, of all people. So I thought you’d like to come. Nico’s coming too, since we have to get there quick. They’re injured.”

“Tyson? How come I didn’t know he was in Australia?” Percy asked.

“You’ve been a little busy,” Piper said with a small half-smile. “He was there for your dad or something, I don’t really know. All I know is that there’s two demigods that need our help.”

“Wait,” Percy shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “You said... you’re going to make Nico shadow travel all the way to Australia?”

“Sure, he can do it,” Piper waved a hand. Percy frowned uncertainly, but couldn’t say more on the matter because Nico walked back in the cabin.

“Okay, now that everyone is fresh faced,” Piper grinned. “Let’s get this show on the road.”


	5. Don't Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A-Ah," Nico groaned, nearly collapsing on the spot. Percy caught him as he swayed, letting go of Nico's hand to grip his waist, and it was the only thing that kept Nico from braining himself on the floor. 
> 
> "Nico?" Percy asked him. “You alright?” 
> 
> Nico swayed again, even with Percy holding him. "I think you'll have to carry me," He stated tiredly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is SO SHORT I'm truly sorry

“Where are we going?” Nico asked, looking between Percy and Piper.

“Australia, I guess,” Percy answered, frowning at Piper.

"Australia?" Nico said curiously. “Sounds fun.”

Piper gave Percy a smug smile. “It sure does. Now, c’mon, people are waiting for us.”

“Whoa, wait. Nico can't take three people to Australia by shadow travel without passing out,” Percy tried, even as they were leaving the cabin.

Nico frowned softly. Did Percy think he couldn’t do it?

“Protective much?" Piper muttered quietly. "It's not even three anyway, Annabeth and Jason are coming too."

"What?! And you think he can shadow travel nearly 10,000 miles with four other people?" Percy was furious. Nico's heart fluttered, though. Percy cared about him. He was worried about his wellbeing.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Nico said, patting Percy's arm. "Anyway, why Australia?"

"Well, Tyson's there with some new demigods apparently. They're American, though, visiting Australia." Piper quickly explained as the trio approached Annabeth and Jason where they were waiting. “We need to go retrieve them, and quickly. They’re injured from battling some mythical being native to Australia.”

“Or maybe it wasn’t mythical, the animals over there are enough of a threat,” Jason joked, leaning toward Piper to give her a quick kiss.

Annabeth gave a quick wave, but Nico just frowned. Did she really have to come?

“I still don’t like this,” Percy complained. “He’s taking four people there, and six back? It’s too far for that many people.”

“I can do this, Percy,” Nico reassured. Percy didn’t look convinced.

"Anyway, let's go, the demigods are in danger.” Piper added a bit of charm speaking there, to get Percy to join. Even so, Percy looked ready to continue arguing. 

Nico quickly grabbed Piper's hand, and Percy's, ignoring the sparks he felt as he did. The rest of their small group connected hands and Nico began concentrating on the shadows surrounding them, pulling them in.

"And what exactly are you expecting will-“ Percy was cut off by Nico transporting them.

Sydney, Australia soon materialized in front of them and Nico felt Piper's hand drop from his, but Percy's didn't, he noted dimly. He felt a wave of exhaustion bowl him over, enough to knock him off his feet.

"A-Ah," Nico groaned, nearly collapsing on the spot. Percy caught him as he swayed, letting go of Nico's hand to grip his waist, and it was the only thing that kept Nico from braining himself on the floor.

"Nico?" Percy asked him. “You alright?”

Nico swayed again, even with Percy holding him. "I think you'll have to carry me," He stated tiredly. He was sleepy enough that he wasn’t even embarrassed at the way he leaned against Percy.

“Sure,” Percy nodded, lifting him onto his back with a small smile. “Can do.”

Nico rested his head on Percy's shoulder once he was on his back. He peeked his eyes open, exhausted, to see the others grinning. Jason’s grin was the widest, but Piper’s was a close second. He wondered for a moment if they were teasing him or if they were genuinely happy for him before he closed his eyes, unable to keep them open anymore.


End file.
